Lynne Sladky / The Associated PressMiami's LeBron James came on strong in the Eastern Conference Finals.

What is this: LeBron James vs. Kevin Durant?

Or will it be The First Hurrah for the Man Without a Ring?

Whatever transpires, the NBA has to be happy.

In Oklahoma City’s Durant, you have a guy many say is the “best player’’ in the league.

In James, you have the league MVP who, a few years ago, promised the world a truckload of championships the day he showed up in Miami.

It’s a moment that will haunt James forever, stamping him as an ongoing storyline in a sport in a constant state of pick-and-roll.

Remember?

Going into Boston trailing the Celtics 3-2, the Heat was declared all but dead until LeBron delivered 45 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a crunching victory that had historians going back to a virtuoso playoff performance by Wilt Chamberlain in the 1960s.

Two nights later, James was scoring a mere 31 points and pulling down a mere 12 rebounds as the Heat disposed of the Celtics to give LeBron a third shot at winning a first championship.

Eric Gay / The Associated PressKevin Durant pushed the Thunder past the top-seeded Spurs in the Western Conference Finals.

But keep this in mind: James wasn’t the whole story. The Celtics had lost to the “real Heat,’’ not to one man, but to the legendary threesome of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, brought together by Pat Riley, to win and win and win.

Wade had 23 points. Bosh made eight of 10 shots, including three crucial 3-pointers, in a game up for grabs until the final three minutes.

Now the Heat is at full strength and has no excuses.

The question: How much of a championship challenge is Oklahoma City?

“What the Thunder have accomplished in the playoffs is like a Hollywood script,’’ San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich said.

After sweeping the Dallas Mavericks, the defending NBA champions, the Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in five, then disposed of the Spurs, winning four in a row after losing the first two.

But there was more. Popovich pointed out those three franchises had represented the Western Conference in the past 13 NBA Finals and accounted for 10 championships. Now the Thunder gets Miami.

“I don’t know if anybody has ever had a run or gone through a playoff playing those kinds of teams,’’ he said. ‘’We lost to a team that beat us fair and square. They kept coming at you and never let up. We just reached our limit.’’

After watching Durant score 34 points in the Game 6 clincher, the Spurs’ Tim Duncan said: “We’ve got no excuses. They beat us. They were the better team. I thought this was our time to get back in the finals. Our time to push for another championship. We had our time. It’s their time now.’’

San Antonio veteran Manu Ginobili said it came down to a question of young legs defeating experience.

“We didn’t have their legs, their energy,’’ Ginobili said. “We’re never going to run as fast or jump as high as those guys. It’s hard not to be optimistic about the future of that franchise. They have so much talent, and they’re so athletic.’’

This season the Thunder was one of nine NBA teams to average 100 percent attendance.

After bidding Seattle farewell, the Thunder finished 29-53 in their first season in Oklahoma City, losing 29 of their first 32.

“When we were 3-29, our fans still treated us like champions,’’ Coach Scott Brooks said.

In the first quarter of Game 6 against the Spurs, Durant told Brooks he “could play a full 48 minutes.’’

He did.

“I didn’t think they’d do it, but they kept me in — and I was just trying to give my team a spark,” he said. “Coach is always getting in my ear about inspiring my team by my play.’’

To say the least, Durant’s play, at a gung-ho, elevated level, has been inspiring.

Derek Fisher, who played 12 1/2 of his 16 seasons with the Lakers, winning five rings, before landing in Thunder-land, suggests the Thunder’s success challenges the notion elite vacationland hot spots such as Miami are needed to attract blue-chip NBA talent.

“Our game will always be built around stars,’’ Fisher said. “But when you have Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, those kinds of players, you’re capable of drawing interest with people interested in seeing how far a team like that can go.’’

We’ll find out.

•••••••

Peter Finney can be reached at pfinney@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3802.